Devious Discoveries Delivered Directly Downtown

Hi, ChessKid friends!

Looking on our forum, I noticed some similar questions, like "how can this be check?"

And then, the notation says eg. Bxc2+ and they're like, um, the bishop is totally NOT giving check to the king.

Well, here's what's going on, ObservantClover, and anyone else who is wondering...it's a discovered check!

Here is ObservantClover's game and annotation...


Discoveries are super devious, because we often don't notice them until it's too late.

It's critical to look at the whole board. Discovered attacks require that there are three pieces in the same straight line.

Do you see the queen giving check after Bxc2? Now, do you see a move that would have been even better than taking on c2?

 
Right! Bxg2 would win the rook on h1, since the white king would still have to get out of check. This means the move Ba3 is not a good choice -- it is better to castle or otherwise get out of that direct line with Black's queen!
 
I played a game today with a group of kids where this happened.
 
The discovered double check is the most devious of them all!
 
Poor kids, after forking the king and rook, capturing two hanging pieces, I skewered the king to the queen...ouch.
 
Take it from the Owl: castle, and look at the whole board.
 
This is from the copycat trick. Do you know that one? Watch carefully. Do not copy!
The white queen is lined up with the black king, with only a single little knight in the way.
 
Hm, why not just move it?! Of course we don't want to move the knight randomly; it's got two ways to win material, and certainly we'd like to go for the big one. But safely now...!
 
Yikes! There is no way to stop the queen from getting captured. So beware of these long lines down the board, leading to the king! They are devious, and dangerous, too!
 
Keep asking Jessica E Prescott (aka BoundingOwl) questions on the Ask Coach Jessica forum and have a great week!

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